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Briana
My eyes snapped open. “What?”
“I love you, Briana,” he said, his eyes so soft and expressive they tore at my heart. “I didn't realize just how much until I thought I'd lost you forever.”
He'd been carefully chipping away at my defenses since he started explaining why he acted like such an ass. I wanted to forgive him. Truthfully, I wanted to throw my arms around him and beg him never to leave me again. But it had been a long damn night, and things were taking a little longer than usual to sink in.
“You love me.” I repeated the words not as a question, but as a statement. More to myself than to him.
“I do,” he said. “Past, present, and future.”
It was that statement that finally managed to break through. He knew about my past, and he loved me anyway.
“I love you too.” I leaned into him and brushed my lips across his. “I love you too.”
A deep growl rumbled in his chest, and he pulled me to him. I kissed him eagerly, each touch of his lips against mine chasing away the darkness, the pain, replacing it with the certain knowledge that I was loved.
He loved me.
Dorian loved me.
And I was free to love him back. He knew all my secrets, all the deep, dark monsters lurking in my basement. It had all been exposed to him without a single measure of finesse, and he accepted me anyway. He wanted me, just as I was.
The realization warmed me to the core, and I climbed onto his lap, needing him inside me, claiming me. My mouth devoured his as his hands roamed over every inch of me. I was basically in my pajamas and wasn't wearing a bra, but the sound he made as his hands moved over my breasts told me he approved.
“Can we go to your room?” he asked, breathing heavily. “I don't want the first time I meet Mikala to be when I'm inside of you.”
I laughed quietly. I'd forgotten how exposed we were out here. In the wake of his proclamation, I'd forgotten nearly everything else. I nodded and climbed off him, stretching out a hand, which he took.
“I should actually go check to make sure she’s okay,” I whispered. “If she heard what happened with Elroy tonight, she might be upset.”
Dorian nodded in understanding. “Do you want me to come with you?”
I shook my head. “Not tonight.” I smiled and squeezed his hand. “You can meet her in the morning, if you’d like.”
A wide smile broke out on Dorian’s face, and he pulled me against his chest, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“I’d like that,” he said into my hair. “I’d like that a lot.”
After a moment, I excused myself and headed down the hall to my daughter’s closed door. The light was off, and when I put my ear against it, I couldn’t hear any movement, but I cracked open the door to make sure.
“Mommy?” she whispered in the darkness.
I slipped into the room and closed the door behind me, navigating through the minefield of toys in the dark. “Hey, sweetie.”
She shifted in bed, and as my eyes adjusted, I could see she’d sat up. “Is Daddy gone?”
I sat down next to her and pulled her into my lap, enjoying being able to cradle her still. She’d be too big one day and wouldn’t have time to cuddle with her mommy anymore. But for now, she folded herself against me and rested her head on my chest.
“Daddy's gone, honey. I'm sorry if we scared you.”
Her little hand wrapped around my arm and squeezed. “Why was he here? Didn't he want to see me? And why was he so angry?”
I winced, choosing my words carefully. “He's going through some stuff right now. All that matters is that we're okay, baby. And things are going to get better from here.”
“I don't want to see him anymore if he's going to yell at you. Do I have to?”
If a string was attached to my heart, then Mikala was pulling on it. I didn't want her to see him anymore either. I'd never wanted him to have visitation rights, but he always had my past to hang over my head. Now, though, with Dorian's help, I could finally cut ties with Elroy once and for all.
